On the Banks of Plum Creek/Laura Ingalls Wilder/Created by Allen Parish District

Unit 2/Week 1
Title: On the Banks of Plum Creek
Suggested Time: 4 days (45 minutes per day)
Common Core ELA Standards: RL.4.1, RL.4.2, RL.4.3; RF.4.3, RF.4.4; W.4.2, W.4.4, W.4.9; SL.4.1,
SL.4.4; L.4.1, L.4.2, L.4.4

Teacher Instructions
Refer to the Introduction for further details.
Before Teaching
1. Read the Big Ideas and Key Understandings and the Synopsis. Please do not read this to the students. This is a description for
teachers, about the big ideas and key understanding that students should take away after completing this task.
Big Ideas and Key Understandings
The Ingalls family overcomes the challenges of prairie life by working together and having courage.
Synopsis
In this historical fiction excerpt, Mary and Laura are left to look after their home while Ma and Pa go into town to get supplies
for the winter. When Laura discovers the cattle destroying Pa’s haystacks, she and Mary have to act quick before all the hay
for the winter is ruined. Despite their fear, Mary, Laura, and the dog, Jack, chase the cattle away. After the girls return to the
dugout to await Ma and Pa’s return, they hear the run-away wagon heading for the creek and see Pa chasing after the

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 On the Banks of Plum Creek/Laura Ingalls Wilder/Created by Allen Parish District

wagon. Just as the wagon nears the bank, Pa causes the oxen to swerve, saving Ma and Carrie from plummeting over the
bank. Once the excitement has settled, the family returns to what needs to be taken care of around the home.
2. Read entire main selection text, keeping in mind the Big Ideas and Key Understandings.
3. Re-read the main selection text while noting the stopping points for the Text Dependent Questions and teaching Vocabulary.
During Teaching
1. Students read the entire main selection text independently.
2. Teacher reads the main selection text aloud with students following along. (Depending on how complex the text is and the
amount of support needed by students, the teacher may choose to reverse the order of steps 1 and 2.)
3. Students and teacher re-read the text while stopping to respond to and discuss the questions and returning to the text. A variety
of methods can be used to structure the reading and discussion (i.e.: whole class discussion, think-pair-share, independent
written response, group work, etc.)

Text Dependent Questions

Text Dependent Questions Answers

Read the introduction on page 159. Why does Pa cut the prairie
grasses? Why is the family going into town?
In preparation for going into town, Carrie gets a new dress and
Ma wears her best dress. What in the text lets us know why
the older girls aren’t included? Do you think the family goes
into town often? Why or why not?
Summer is ending and the family needs to prepare for winter.
The grasses will dry into straw and the oxen will eat it when the
weather gets cold and there is no longer grass to eat. The
family needs supplies from the store to get them through the
winter.
Mary was going on nine and Laura was going on eight, and they
could stay at home and take care of everything while Pa and
Ma were gone. It seems like the family probably doesn’t go into
town often—it seems like a special occasion because they
spend a lot of time getting all dressed up.

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 On the Banks of Plum Creek/Laura Ingalls Wilder/Created by Allen Parish District
On page 161, the author says, “The prairie seemed big and
empty, but there was nothing to be afraid of. Why aren’t Laura
and Mary afraid of being alone without their parents?
On page 162, what does Laura see across the creek? Why is
this a problem?
What might have happened if Laura had obeyed Mary and
stayed in the dugout? (pg. 162)
Reread page 163. Compare the way Laura reacts when she
sees the cattle with the way Mary reacts.
What details on page 163 describe how dangerous the cattle
appear to the girls? Why are they determined to drive the
cattle away from the hay? What do these actions tell us about
the kind of people Laura and Mary might be?
Do you think the cattle on pages 162-163 belong to the Ingalls
family? Why or why not? Reread the introduction on page 159
for clues.
According to the text on page 164, what finally causes the
cattle to turn and run away across the field?
On page 164 Laura screeches at Johnny Johnson to, “Wake up
and watch the cattle!” What might have happened if Johnny
had not fallen asleep?
What problem does Pa have with the oxen on pages 166-167?
“There were no wolves and no Indians.” They had Jack with
them who was a “responsible dog” and who would “take care
of everything.”
When Laura “darts” out the door, she notices cattle are eating
Pa’s haystacks. Jack is standing stiff and Mary screeches.
If the cattle ate all the hay, “there would be nothing left to feed
Pete and Bright and Spot in the winter-time.”
The girls would have never noticed Jack barking at the cattle,
and the cattle could have destroyed the haystacks.
Mary is afraid to move, but Laura was too afraid to stand still
because of what the cattle might do to the hay. Laura runs to
chase them away.
The girls saw the “fierce, big cattle quite near.” The cattle run
around the stacks “jostling and bawling, tearing off hay and
trampling it.” The cattle have “big and awful horns.” Mary and
Laura never give up because they know Pa is relying on this hay
to feed their animals through the winter. They are brave and
responsible, and they are determined to help their family,
despite dangerous obstacles.
The Ingalls family only has one cow named Spot. Their two
oxen, Pete and Bright, are pulling the wagon to town when the
cattle intrude.
Laura waves her stick at a cow. It gets startled and swerves.
Then it runs across the field, and the other cattle follow.
It seems like Johnny is the person responsible for tending and
watching the cattle— maybe if he hadn’t fallen asleep, the
cattle wouldn’t have gotten into the Ingalls’s hay.
The oxen are running towards the creek bank. Pa shouts at the
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 KEY WORDS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERSTANDING WORDS WORTH KNOWING
BIG IDEAS OF TEXT Words to be part of systematic vocabulary instruction,
Words addressed with a question or task not essential for understanding the big ideas of the text

s are provided in theSTUDENTS FIGURE OUT THE MEANING textnot enough contextual clues provided in theTEACHER PROVIDES DEFINITION
On the Banks of Plum Creek/Laura Ingalls Wilder/Created by Allen Parish District

Describe how Pa solves this problem. How was Pa's courage oxen and hits Bright so they will swerve away from the bank
important in overcoming the challenge? and crash against the stable.
If Pa had let fear get the best of him, the wagon would have
gone over the creek
Page 159 –bank withsettlers
pioneer, Ma, Carrie, and all. He had to
stay strong and have courage to face the
page 160 – calico, sunbonnet, challenge.
challis,
Pa jokes that Pete was going along with Bright until he saw the Pa and Ma are trying tohoopskirts,
take the girls
goadminds off what just
stable and wanted his supper. Ma has the girls bring in the happened. page
They161
try –toyoke,
distract them
rushes, sododgers
corn that they don’t get
packages while Pa puts up the oxen. Why do you think the upset. page 162 – footbridge
parents kept the girlspage
busy159 –banks,
after whatcreek, oxen,
has just prairie (pg.
happened? page 163 – brindle, galloped, panting, hollow,
167) Page 162 - cattle
trembling
How did Pa feel about the way Mary and Ellen took care of Pa said thatPage
the girls did “the right thing,” and said,
167 - stable
things while he was gone? How do you know? (pg. 168) “We knew we could depend on you to take care of everything.”
page 168 – horehound candy
How does the author’s description of the prairie on page 169 The author describes the creek “talking to itself under the
Page 169 - willows
show us that the prairie is not always so dangerous? yellow willows,” the stars swinging low, and gentleness of the
wind. The author paints a peaceful picture.
To personify something means to talk about something non- The creek was talking to itself under the yellow willows. The
living as though it were a person. (For example, the flowers sound of the creek was like a person’s voice.
danced in the breeze.) List two examples of personification on One by one the great stars swung low and seemed to quiver
page 169 and explain their meaning. and flicker in the little wind. The stars appear to be relaxed and
at peace like a child swinging.
How does Laura know the family would have horses once they Pa had said that before long they would have a good team of
had a good wheat crop? horses—Laura knew that once they could sell the harvest from
a good wheat crop, they could afford horses and supplies.

Vocabulary

Page 159 – dugout

Page 165 – attentive, waggle
Page 162 – gouging, trampling, darted
Page 166 – bounding 4
Page 163 – spring, jostling, bawling, fierce, toppling
Page 167 - snuffled
Page 164 – swerved
Page 168 – crackle, pounced
Page 169 - contradicting
 On the Banks of Plum Creek/Laura Ingalls Wilder/Created by Allen Parish District

Culminating Task
 Re-Read, Think, Discuss, Write

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 On the Banks of Plum Creek/Laura Ingalls Wilder/Created by Allen Parish District

How did the Ingalls family overcome obstacles on the prairie? Name two obstacles the Ingalls family faced during the story and
use evidence from the text to explain how their actions and their character traits helped them overcome these obstacles.
Answer: At the beginning of the story, Laura and Mary had to stop cattle from eating their haystacks. Together they were
able to chase them away and salvage the winter’s hay. Then, struggled to control the oxen pulling his wagon, almost taking it
over the bank with Carrie and Ma inside. Pa was able to strike Bright’s head and Jack jumped on Bright’s nose to make the
wagon swerve into the stable. Even though they were faced with many challenges, the Ingalls were all courageous,
persistent, and responsible, and they worked together to overcome them.

Note to Teacher
 Teachers may want to mention that this story is part of a larger work. Page 159 gives students a short summary from that larger
text to help drop them into the story.